Sonic 4; Now with more Jumping.

Roe · July 2010

Who wants some rings?

From Trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzHhRbDXWWE

To reviews:

http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-pod-sonic-4/706287

Bacon-BuTTy · July 2010

Good.

Cherrn · July 2010

I think it looks very safe and inoffensive. Probably won't garner the hate that Sonic typically gets, but it also doesn't seem particularly creative or interesting. Frankly, it looks really boring to me.

Couscous · July 2010

I hate the lock on. It makes a lot of the platforming a joke. Everything else is inoffensive.

schmads · July 2010

The Lock-on seems like the sort of thing they should allow you to turn off for "hardcore" players.

Enig · July 2010

I suppose they could up the difficulty to compensate for lock-on trickery.

Otherwise it looks like an old Sonic game, a.k.a. the kind of Sonic game that people actually want to play.

Xagarath · July 2010

Recycling almost entirely from the first 2 games, with very little evidence of new ideas or level design.
Bad.

fragglefart · July 2010

I just want more of the old stuff made to look shiny.

Hope it plays as good as it looks.

Undead Scottsman · July 2010

Hey TSR, you planning on entering that contest?

jothki · July 2010

Undead Scottsman wrote: »

Hey TSR, you planning on entering that contest?

I'd assume his crowd is too busy reverse-engineering the contest to actually enter it.

Xenogear_0001 · July 2010

Looks good to me--I don't see the problem with a bit of recycling, as it's largely just going to be used in the beginning to hit your nostalgia button. I will say that Sonic should have more rotations per jump, though. As for the lock-on, it seems helpful for coming out of the angled spring jumps.

Adus · July 2010

Xagarath wrote: »

Recycling almost entirely from the first 2 games, with very little evidence of new ideas or level design.
Bad.

Agreed. Get back to me when there's something new in there.

Couscous · July 2010

Half the problem with the platforming (I mean ignoring the general shittiness of the rest of the controls) with many of the 3D Sonics was that the lock on pretty much eliminated half the platforming and reduced large chunks of levels to little more than pressing the lock on button when the cue appears.

Xenogear_0001 · July 2010

Adus wrote: »

Xagarath wrote: »

Recycling almost entirely from the first 2 games, with very little evidence of new ideas or level design.
Bad.

Agreed. Get back to me when there's something new in there.

So they go to make a re-boot of the 2d Sonic style, capturing that feel and look of the old (good) Sonic games, and now the response they're getting is it's too much of a re-hash? I swear, some people. :P

EDIT: To be fair, I did see the bit in the video where Sonic is fighting the exact same boss from the first world in Sonic 1. That's a bit far--maybe if you knocked that off of his ship and then something more deadly popped out I'd be cool with it.

agoaj · July 2010

Finally! Sega wants my fanfiction!
Prepare for the Sonic and the big big big big egg!

jothki · July 2010

Xenogear_0001 wrote: »

Adus wrote: »

Xagarath wrote: »

Recycling almost entirely from the first 2 games, with very little evidence of new ideas or level design.
Bad.

Agreed. Get back to me when there's something new in there.

So they go to make a re-boot of the 2d Sonic style, capturing that feel and look of the old (good) Sonic games, and now the response they're getting is it's too much of a re-hash? I swear, some people. :P

EDIT: To be fair, I did see the bit in the video where Sonic is fighting the exact same boss from the first world in Sonic 1. That's a bit far--maybe if you knocked that off of his ship and then something more deadly popped out I'd be cool with it.

Its attack does change when you do enough damage.

Speed Racer · July 2010

Xenogear_0001 wrote: »

Adus wrote: »

Xagarath wrote: »

Recycling almost entirely from the first 2 games, with very little evidence of new ideas or level design.
Bad.

Agreed. Get back to me when there's something new in there.

So they go to make a re-boot of the 2d Sonic style, capturing that feel and look of the old (good) Sonic games, and now the response they're getting is it's too much of a re-hash? I swear, some people. :P

EDIT: To be fair, I did see the bit in the video where Sonic is fighting the exact same boss from the first world in Sonic 1. That's a bit far--maybe if you knocked that off of his ship and then something more deadly popped out I'd be cool with it.

He starts doing another attack where he spins it around rapidly after they hit him a few times

at this point, I'll take uninspired but solid as a significant improvement to what they've been doing

Couscous · July 2010

I like how the lock on made the first boss even more of a joke than he was in the first game.

Duck'n'Cover · July 2010

Does the animation of Sonic bother anyone else? It's driving me nuts, it looks like theres no real gravity, he's slip-sliding around, seems really lazy. If you look closely, even when standing still, his feet don't even touch the ground, i mean what the fuck.

Speed Racer · July 2010

DucknCover wrote: »

Does the animation of Sonic bother anyone else? It's driving me nuts, it looks like theres no real gravity, he's slip-sliding around, seems really lazy. If you look closely, even when standing still, his feet don't even touch the ground, i mean what the fuck.

Yeah that's bugging me too. They still have the problem that when he starts from a dead-stop the movement of his feet don't seem to match the speed at which he's moving.

Xenogear_0001 · July 2010

Speed Racer wrote: »

DucknCover wrote: »

Does the animation of Sonic bother anyone else? It's driving me nuts, it looks like theres no real gravity, he's slip-sliding around, seems really lazy. If you look closely, even when standing still, his feet don't even touch the ground, i mean what the fuck.

Yeah that's bugging me too. They still have the problem that when he starts from a dead-stop the movement of his feet don't seem to match the speed at which he's moving.

Wasn't that always the case with the originals, though? Also, yeah, regarding the boss fight--I need to stop skimming videos and just watch the damn things.

Duck'n'Cover · July 2010

Xenogear_0001 wrote: »

Speed Racer wrote: »

DucknCover wrote: »

Does the animation of Sonic bother anyone else? It's driving me nuts, it looks like theres no real gravity, he's slip-sliding around, seems really lazy. If you look closely, even when standing still, his feet don't even touch the ground, i mean what the fuck.

Yeah that's bugging me too. They still have the problem that when he starts from a dead-stop the movement of his feet don't seem to match the speed at which he's moving.

Wasn't that always the case with the originals, though? Also, yeah, regarding the boss fight--I need to stop skimming videos and just watch the damn things.

By originals i asume you mean the Genesis ones? I always thought the animation for those were top notch, actually. Nothing mind blowing or anything but good enough that you don't notice anything out of place.

Javen · July 2010

I like it. I think we'll be able to compare it to Mega Man 9 in terms of old school reboots in that it actually wants to be a lot like its predecessors, or even more simplified

Adus · July 2010

Xenogear_0001 wrote: »

Adus wrote: »

Xagarath wrote: »

Recycling almost entirely from the first 2 games, with very little evidence of new ideas or level design.
Bad.

Agreed. Get back to me when there's something new in there.

So they go to make a re-boot of the 2d Sonic style, capturing that feel and look of the old (good) Sonic games, and now the response they're getting is it's too much of a re-hash? I swear, some people. :P

EDIT: To be fair, I did see the bit in the video where Sonic is fighting the exact same boss from the first world in Sonic 1. That's a bit far--maybe if you knocked that off of his ship and then something more deadly popped out I'd be cool with it.

I was never one of those people clamoring for Sonic to return to 2D. I liked Sonic Adventure a lot, and the other 3D Sonic games were not bad because they were 3d, they were bad because they were just plain poorly designed. Mario went 3D and he did fine. The games just have to be, you know, good. People just wanted to go back in time for nostalgia purposes.

Beasteh · July 2010

so far this looks to have none of the polish and charm of the first 3 and a half games

sonic curled into a ball looks weird, the overuse of lock-on and floaty lazy physics is really offputting

Heleor · July 2010

Back to the roots, but the roots of Sonic 1. This may be blasphemous, but that game did not age well. (Sonic 3 did.)

I'm looking at Sonic Colors more than this.

JaysonFour · July 2010

Well, New Super Mario Bros. Wii was just like this- after a long wait, they essentially roll out the love child of SMB3 and SMW; it sells like gangbusters.

The original Sonic is what, fifteen years old? Maybe this isn't aimed at old-school gamers like us, but at people who never got to play an original Sonic game?

plufim · July 2010

It really bothers me that sonic uncurls when he rolls off of a ramp.

Xenogear_0001 · July 2010

Meh, I'm not going to sit and arm-chair critique it to death. Judgment will be reserved until I am able to play it. Though, from my perspective, they could have done a lot worse.

Sterica · July 2010

You guys act as if the original three games had a lot of mindblowing innovation with each iteration. This looks fine so long as they think up of some tricky shit with the lock-on.

Couscous · July 2010

Rorus Raz wrote: »

This looks fine so long as they think up of some tricky shit with the lock-on.

I'm trying to think of anything they could do with it.

AnakinOU · July 2010

The floating/sliding feet while walking is horrible. Same for the lack of momentum. Good thing they put the lock-on in there to distract you from those problems.

Xagarath · July 2010

Rorus Raz wrote: »

You guys act as if the original three games had a lot of mindblowing innovation with each iteration. This looks fine so long as they think up of some tricky shit with the lock-on.

3 and Knuckles had far more complex level design than any of the leaked Sonic 4 videos.
I don't want Sonic 2 part 2. That's pointless.
And the series doesn't need to return to its roots, just as it hasn't needed the countless reboots and new starts they've given it over the years.
What it needs is good game design.
All this constant PR of "no, this will be just like the classic games, honest", which was exactly what they said about Heroes, Sonic 360 and Unleashed, is simply an effective way of funneling fans and nostalgia without actually having to design a good game to back it up.

Daius · July 2010

Surprise Surprise, the first zone doesn't have brilliant level design. Just like Green Hill, Emerald Hill, Neo Green Hill, and Angel Island Act 2.

I know we have to automatically think the worst of every Sonic game to protect us from inevitable disappointment but complaining that the generic grassy stage that almost every game starts with isn't up to Sonic standards is a ridonkulous thing to say, considering they've never really been as good as later stages.

Also not too sure about the homing attack making bosses your bitch with hardly any effort. We'll see how that turns out.

MKR · July 2010

All the homing does it make it more explicit how easy most of the bosses were in the originals. However, I like my brain-dead-simple-by-design implicit.

MC Mystery · July 2010

I am in no way opposed to the homing attack.

Speed Racer · July 2010

Instead of actually locking on, I think it would work better if you could just give Sonic a sudden boost of forward momentum while in the air, and you have to either land or hit an enemy to re-charge it.

Like a horizontal double-jump

Cantido · July 2010

Speed Racer wrote: »

Instead of actually locking on, I think it would work better if you could just give Sonic a sudden boost of forward momentum while in the air, and you have to either land or hit an enemy to re-charge it.

Like a horizontal double-jump

Mmm. Fire Shield and Lightning Shield combined!

Mild Confusion · July 2010

I wouldn't mind if they redid Sonic 1, 2, 3, and Sonic & Knuckles with the new engine and release it on Live. Like they did with TMNT in Time. I'd definatly buy them and enjoy

cloudeagle · July 2010

Wait, didn't Sega promise they were going back to make this game better? Is this video before or after the rejiggering?

The_Scarab · July 2010

The presence of lock-on isn't in itself a deal breaker but it does strongly indicate that they no longer understand the underlying greatness of the genesis sonic titles and what made them enjoyable to play. It was never about speed, despite the narrative and promotional cues of the Sonic character himself.

I have extremely low expectations, as should everyone by now. The gaming community needs to escape the sonic cycle by completely shitting on a game for once in the chance it will be a pleasant surprise.

Penny Arcade

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